No sw patents on sw patent directive passage

NoSoftwarePatents take on the EU council of ministers passing the software patents directive: Council sends a mockery of a CP to the EP

"The EU Council today adopted its Common Position on the software patent directive against the express will of various member countries. The text, which in the opinion of its critics is only a minority position today, had been previously agreed upon on 18 May 2004. Its formal adoption had failed repeatedly due to strong resistance by country governments and national parliaments. The minister from Luxembourg who chaired the meeting said: "We are adopting this Common Position today for institutional reasons as not to create a precedent" with implications to other processes in the Council.

Danish minister of economic affairs Bendt Bendtsen explained that Denmark would have preferred for the position to be renegotiated but that he was "not going to stand in the way of the formal adoption" and instead decided to attach a written declaration to the Common Position. The EU Affairs Committee of the Danish parliament had instructed him on Friday to demand a renegotiation of the controversial position. Various other countries had previously made uniteral declarations, including Hungary, Latvia, the Netherlands, Poland, and Cyprus.

The European Parliament will now have three months to reject or amend the proposal. For rejection or every single amendment, the EP needs a majority of the component members of parliaments, i.e. 367 votes irrespective of absences or abstentions.

Florian Mueller, who manages the pan-European NoSoftwarePatents.com campaign, was in the Council building today to follow the discussion. In his immediate reaction, he said that "we as the opponents of software patents don't have to talk too much now about the democratic illegitimacy of this proposal because it's so obvious. Even the chairman of today's meeting conceded it." He said the focus would now have to be on the second reading in the European Parliament, and outlined his campaign's strategy: "We have a number of psychological and political success factors on our side. Still the hurdle is very high in a second reading, so as a matter of precaution, we have to take multiple bites at the apple and shoot for rejection and impactful amendments in parallel." The EP will have up to four opportunities to reject the proposal, two in a second reading (one before and one after the votes on proposed amendments), a third one in conciliation and a fourth one in a third reading."

Groklaw on same: "Here's my analysis: Money talks."